I promise you my heart
An AFI fan fiction by Emily Erwin
Janie's POV
Davey and I were in our Japanese class. I was copying his notes. Adam, Jade, Hunter and Jodi were in Spanish. Davey and I had been going out for a year. Jade and Jodi had just started going out. The guys are in a band called AFI, which stands for A Fire Inside.
"Davey, what does that say?" I asked.
Davey looked at the paper and said, "Hello."
"Ok." I said.
I finished copying and gave the paper back to Davey. Karlson- Sensei was about to start teaching when the bell for third block rang. Davey and I met up with everyone else at our lockers.
"How was Spanish?" Davey asked Adam.
"Boring." Adam said, opening his locker.
I opened my locker and dropped off my Japanese book and grabbed my Latin book. Once I had put that in my backpack, I slammed my locker shut.
"I can't wait till lunch. I'm starving!" Adam exclaimed.
"I wish they sold Vegan cookies." Davey complained.
"Davey, no one except you and Hunter like those things." Jade said, slamming his locker shut.
"I'm ready." Jodi said.
"Then let's go before we're late." Hunter suggested.
We went to our Latin class. We were studying the Roman gods and goddesses. Jade and I were good at that. We had to work with a partner to write about a god or goddess. Jade worked with Jodi, Adam and Hunter paired up so I worked with Davey.
"Who has better handwriting?" I asked.
"Probably you." Davey said.
I took out a piece of paper and wrote our names on the top.
"Who should we write about?" I asked.
"Don't look at me! I don't know any of that stuff!" Davey exclaimed.
"Ok. We are doing Hades." I said.
"Ok." Davey said.
I wrote down a bunch of facts on Hades.
"Now what?" I asked.
"I dunno. Do we have to list them or write in sentences?" Davey asked.
"I think we can just list them." I answered.
"Ok. Then we're done." Davey said.
I put my head on my desk and tried to fall asleep. Davey started to poke my arm. I looked up, annoyed.
"Yes?" I queried.
"You shouldn't sleep in class." Davey scolded me.
"Then what do you suggest I do?" I asked.
"Read something." Davey said.
The teacher, Miss Jackson, came over and took our paper, seeing that we were finished.
"I hope I wrote enough. I think I wrote down about 20." I said.
"Janie! She said 10 was enough!" Davey exclaimed, looking shocked.
"Extra credit." I shrugged.
Once everyone else was done, we watched a movie on Neptune. Then we went to lunch. Today they were serving white pizza. Adam, Jade and I love the white pizza. Jodi got a taco. Davey got a 'salad'. His 'salad' consisted of a few pieces of lettuce, carrots and some tomatoes. Hunter usually just had a Coke. We decided to eat outside. Once we sat down, Jade and I immediately started to complain about the food.
"I thought you guys liked the white pizza?" Davey asked, taking a bit of his salad.
"Yeah, but look at Jodi's taco." Jade said.
Jodi's taco had a 'soft' shell with meat that looked like it had flakes of skin mixed in.
"Gross." Davey said.
"Jodi, want my crust?" I asked.
"Ok. Thanks." Jodi answered.
"No problem." I said.
"Davey, don't tell me you brought the cookies." Adam said.
"Yep!" Davey exclaimed, pulling a bag of cookies from his backpack and setting them on the table.
"How can you stand those things?" I asked.
"How can you stand eating everything else? Don't you know what they put in a hot dog?" Davey asked me.
"Don't know, don't care." I smiled, taking a bite of pizza.
"What are we gonna do after school?" Jodi asked.
"I dunno. I feel like writing." I said.
"We should work on our stories." Hunter said.
We had to write a story in our English class.
"When is it due?" Jade asked.
"November 14." Adam said.
"I don't wanna write." Davey complained, taking a bite out of one of his cookies.
"Well, what do you suggest we do?" I asked.
"I feel like staying up all night watching horror movies." Davey said.
"We could do that. It's a Friday." Jade said.
"But what do we do when we get home from school?" Hunter asked.
"I dunno." Davey shrugged.
"Why don't we make a movie? I got a new video camera." I suggested.
"Fine by me." Hunter said.
"Who's house will we meet at?" Jade asked.
"Janie's. She has the camera." Jodi said.
"Then it's settled. We'll make a movie after school, and then we watch horror movies all night. Sweet!" Jade exclaimed.
"We'll watch them at my house. Everybody has to bring a movie, though." Davey pointed out.
"Ok. What about your parents?" Adam pointed out.
"My parent's are in Texas, but they said your guys could sleep over sometime. No parties though." Davey said.
"All parents say that. We could make a movie after we watch them." Hunter said, taking a drink of Coke.
Jade's POV
The bell rang and we went to our English class. We were supposed to be working on our stories. I was staring out the window when Mrs. Harvey was calling me.
"Where is your brain today, Mr. Puget?" she asked.
"I don't know." I said.
"Well, get to work." Mrs. Harvey ordered.
"Yes, Ma'am." I said.
She walked away. I sighed and started to write. I never liked writing. Janie was the writer, not me. I got up and walked across the room to get a dictionary and went back to my seat. Jodi had fallen asleep. That didn't surprise me. We had to stop a few minutes later so we could work on our play. We were acting out The Phantom of the Opera. Janie was Christine and Davey was the Phantom. They did a really good job with their roles. Once we finished the play, Mrs. Harvey said that we had to make a play of our own. We got to choose our groups. We'd be working in the auditorium a lot. Naturally, the 6 of us worked together. We got together in a corner and started to discuss our plays.
"Janie, we could make a play out of one of your stories you wrote last year." I suggested.
"Which one?" Janie asked.
"I like the vampiress one." I said.
"The one where she dies and comes back from the dead to avenge her killer?" Janie asked.
"Yeah!" I exclaimed.
"What do you guys think?" Janie asked everyone else.
"I'd rather do the one when there are 2 vampires and 2 vampiresses and they're being chased by townspeople." Adam said.
"That's a good one too." Jodi said.
"So, are we doing that one?" Janie queried.
"Yep!" I exclaimed.
"Ok. Obviously Janie and Jodi are going to be the vampiresses. What were their names?" Davey asked.
"Luna and Raven." Janie said, "I'll be Luna."
"That leaves me with Raven." Jodi said happily.
"We'll need 2 vampires." I said.
"That should be Jade and Davey." Adam said.
"Ok." I said.
"You two don't mind being the townspeople?" Janie asked.
"I don't like acting and Adam probably doesn't care one way or the other." Hunter said.
Adam nodded in agreement.
"Ok then. Janie, could you start writing up the script?" I asked.
"No problem." Janie said.
She took out a black spiral that had the stories that she had written from previous years. She also took out a sheet of paper and started to convert from story to play.
"Do you know what props we'll be using?" Adam asked.
"I could borrow some stuff from the drama department." Janie said.
Janie was in the drama club. She'd just preformed as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. That's probably why Mrs. Harvey had her play Christine.
"Do we need costumes?" Hunter asked.
"I have some old Halloween costumes we could use." Janie said.
"Same. I don't know if they will fit you guys, though." Jodi said.
"We may need to borrow some from the drama department." Janie said.
"That's an idea." Hunter said.
"This is gonna be cool!" Jodi exclaimed.
"But Jade and Janie would have to kill you guys." Davey pointed out.
"Oh well." Adam shrugged.
"Do you want help converting?" I asked Janie.
"I'm good." Janie said.
The bell rang a few minutes later. We went over to Janie's house. Her mom was in the kitchen making cookies.
"Mom, we're making a play in English and we're using my story for it." Janie said.
"That's good." Mrs. Riddance said.
"We're going to use my new camera. Davey, are we going to your house?" I asked Davey.
"Sure." Davey said.
"I'm going to Davey's house. Can I stay over at his house and watch movies all night?" I said.
"Ok. I want you back for dinner, though." Mrs. Riddance said.
"Ok." Janie said.
We went up to Janie's room. We waited while she looked for her camera. When she finally found it, she said, "Found it!"
"Janie, you need to keep a cleaner room." I said.
"You're one to talk!" Hunter exclaimed.
We went over to Davey's house, then over to my house and out to the backyard. Janie set her camera on the grass and ran over to the creek and back.
"Why did you do that?" Adam asked.
"I wanted to run." Janie said.
"You're strange, Janie." Hunter said.
"My track days are coming back to me." Janie said.
Janie was on the track team in school last year. She was pretty good at it. Then joined the drama club and started acting.
"Are you ready or do you need to run some more?" Hunter asked sarcastically.
"Ready!" Janie exclaimed.
She turned on her camera and started recording.
"This is fun!" she said.
"Janie, calm down!" I laughed.
"How long are we gonna be recording random stuff and whatnot?" Davey asked.
"MY WORD!" Janie yelled.
"Davey, you have a weird girl, you know." Hunter said.
Janie chose to ignore that statement.
Janie's POV
We went inside a few minutes later to watch Friday the 13th, The Exorcist, Freddy versus Jason, The Blair Witch Project and a bunch of other movies. Jade, Hunter, Adam and Jodi had long since fallen asleep. Davey and I were watching the end of Scream.
"Tired yet?" Davey asked.
I yawned and said, "A little bit. What about you?"
"Yeah." Davey said.
"It seems like everyone else is asleep." I noted, seeing Jodi asleep on Jade's chest and Adam half-off the couch.
"Why is it whenever we sleepover somewhere, Adam ends us falling asleep on the couch half-way through the first movie?" Davey asked.
"I don't know. I'm tired though." I said.
"Then go to sleep." Davey said.
I leaned up against his shoulder and fell asleep. When I woke up, I was on the couch. Only Jade was asleep. I took my pillow and threw it at his head.
"Ow! Janie!" Jade yelled.
"How did I get on the couch? I was watching the end of Scream with Davey one minute and the next, I'm on the couch!" I exclaimed.
"I dunno, Janie." Jade said.
"Where is everyone?" I asked.
'Do I look like I know?" Jade asked in reply.
I got up the couch and pulled Jade up. We went into the kitchen were we found everyone else was eating waffles.
"I was about to go get you guys." Hunter said.
"How did I get on the couch?" I asked.
"I moved you." Davey said.
"Oh. Well, I guess we're having waffles for breakfast." I said, sitting down in-between Jodi and Davey.
"Yep. Adam made them." Jodi said.
"They smell really good. I can probably make some scrambled eggs if you guys want some." I offered.
"We're out of eggs." Davey pointed out.
"Well, that's a problem." I said.
"Then what are we having?" Jade asked.
"Why don't we just eat the waffles?" Hunter suggested.
"You and Davey don't eat waffles." Jodi reminded them.
"Well, you guys can." Hunter shrugged.
"Are we gonna play at the club tonight?" Jade asked.
"You know it!" Davey exclaimed.
We finished breakfast, changed and went down to the river. I wanted to catch turtle. Davey had already found one and named his turtle Hades.
"Janie! I found one!" Davey yelled.
I ran over to the bank with my jar. Davey had a little painted turtle in his hand.
"Aww! Thanks!" I exclaimed, taking the turtle from him and putting it in the jar.
"No problem. Now Hades can have a new friend. What are you gonna name it?" Davey asked.
"Misery." I said.
"Sounds good to me." Davey said.
We joined the guys. Jade was trying to find a turtle. I set Misery down by the bridge and helped him look.
"Jade! I found one!" I exclaimed.
I scooped the turtle up in my hands and brought it over to him.
"Thanks!" Jade exclaimed, putting the turtle in the container that he brought.
"What are you gonna name it?" Hunter asked.
"I dunno. How about Midnight?" Jade asked.
"Nice." Davey said.
"Now what?" Jodi asked.
"I don't know." Adam said.
"Are we gonna play tonight?" Davey asked.
"Yeah. 17, right?" Adam asked in reply.
17 was a popular under-21 club. The guys often played there.
"You'd better be going, Janie." Davey said.
"I'm going, don't worry." I assured him.
"We could just hang out today." Jodi said.
"Sounds good to me." Adam said.
"What would we do?" Hunter queried.
"I dunno. We'd walk around for a while." Jade suggested.
"That sounds kinda dull." Davey said.
"Well, then what do you suggest?" I asked.
"I don't know." Davey said.
"Why don't we practice? I mean, if we're gonna play, we might wanna practice." Adam suggested.
"Then what do you suggest Janie and I do?" Jodi asked him.
"Just do whatever it is that girls do." Adam shrugged.
"Right." I said, rolling my eyes.
"Ok. How about we practice for a while then I'll get Jodi and Davey can get Janie and we'll hang out the rest of the day?" Jade said.
"Sounds good to me." Janie said.
Davey's POV
I was backstage with the guys. Janie and Jodi were out in the audience. We had just finished playing and were going to head home. We were the last to play, so we went out to the stage to get our stuff. I was watching Janie talking to Jodi. All of a sudden, I heard a gunshot and saw Janie fall over, bleeding. I jumped off the stage and ran over them. Jodi had run off to call 911. Blood was gushing from Janie's chest. The guys had found me with Janie.
"What happened?" she asked.
"You got shot somehow. Are you ok?" I asked.
"What do you think?" Janie asked.
"No." I said.
"Am I gonna die?" Janie asked.
"Of course not." Adam said.
The ambulance came a few minutes later. I went in with her. The medics began checking her over. I just held Janie in my arms the whole way there. 5 minutes before we got to the hospital when Janie said, "I love you, Davey."
"I love you too." I said.
I kissed her. Janie died in my arms before we got to the hospital. Everybody was waiting in the waiting room when I got there.
"Is she ok?" Jade asked.
I didn't answer. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. I shook my head.
"She died." I said, trying to hold back the tears.
No one said anything. I didn't want to believe it.
"She died?" Adam asked.
"In my arms a few minutes before we got here." I said.
"I can't believe it. I thought she'd make it." Jade said.
Jodi's eyes were glistening with tears. No one wanted to believe that Janie was gone. The doctors told us that Janie had bled to death. I didn't care anymore. All I cared about was Janie. We went home a few minutes after that. I went home and, after telling my parents about Janie, went up to my room and cried until I fell asleep. My mom woke me up around 9. I felt miserable. I wondered if Janie's parents had been notified of her death. I got a call from Janie's mom saying I was supposed to go over to the house. I found Mrs. Riddance in the living room.
"I can't believe that she's gone." Mrs. Riddance said softly.
I nodded in agreement.
"Janie said that if anything happened to her, she wanted you to have these." Mrs. Riddance said.
She gave me a thick black binder and some journals. She also gave me Misery. I looked inside the binder and saw the vampire story she had written.
"She never told me that she kept these." I said.
"I never knew what she was writing and I never asked. You know how Janie liked to keep her life private." Mrs. Riddance said.
I nodded.
"I just can't believe that she's really gone." I said.
"I know you must be terribly upset about her death." Mrs. Riddance said.
"More then anyone can imagine." I said.
"How did she die? Jade just told me that she died, but he didn't say how." Mrs. Riddance said.
"We were cleaning up the stage when I heard a gunshot and saw Janie fall. She was shot in the chest. I went in the ambulance with her. She told me that she loved me, we kissed and she died in my arms a few minutes later." I told her.
"Isn't there a security check?" Mrs. Riddance said.
I shook my head.
"Do you know when the funeral is going to be?" I asked.
"Friday." Mrs. Riddance said.
"I'll be there." I promised.
"You'd better get home. I just wanted to give you those." Mrs. Riddance said.
I nodded. I left and went back home. Mom was waiting in the kitchen.
"Janie told her mom to give me her stories. She gave me Misery too." I said.
"I didn't know she wrote stories." Mom said.
"I didn't either. The funeral is on Friday." I said.
"Are you going to go?" Mom asked.
"Can I?" I asked.
"I don't see why you shouldn't." Mom said.
I nodded and went up to my room. I put Misery in Hades' tank. I layed down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. I had calmed down a lot since yesterday, but I was still miserable. Janie had been a big part if my life. Now it felt like a piece of my life had died with her. I heard a knock on my door and Jodi came in.
"Hey." I said.
"Hey. How are you holding up?" she queried.
"I dunno. I just don't want to believe it." I said.
"I know. I woke up this morning thinking about going over to her house, then I realized…" Jodi began.
She never finished her sentence.
"Her mom gave me her journals and her stories with Misery." I said.
"She wrote stories? I never knew that." Jodi said.
"I didn't either." I said.
"Have you found out who shot her?" Jodi wondered.
I shook my head and said, "No. Have you?"
"Nope." She answered.
"Are you going to the funeral? It's Friday." I asked her.
"Definitely. Are you gonna be ok?" Jodi asked me.
I nodded.
"I should be." I answered.
"Well, I'm gonna head home. I just wanted to make sure that you're ok." Jodi said.
"I'm ok." I said.
"Hunter's gonna call you later. I'll see you later, then." Jodi said.
"See ya." I said.
Jodi left. I sighed and resumed staring at my ceiling, waiting for the funeral on Friday.
Jade's POV
I was at the graveside at Janie's funeral. Davey was a complete wreck. I guess he still didn't want to accept the fact that she was gone. Hunter, Adam, Jodi and I went back into the church to give Davey some time with his thoughts. We were standing in the hallway, talking.
"I think he's blaming himself about her death." Adam said.
"What do you mean?" Hunter asked.
"Well, he's probably thinking there was some way to prevent her death and he's mad for not stopping it." Adam explained.
"It's not his fault." I said.
"I know that you know. I'm not sure Davey does." Adam said.
"I don't think he'll get over it." Hunter said.
"Probably not. They knew each other since 1st grade. That's a long time." I pointed out.
"I met her when I was in 2nd grade. It seems like forever away." Jodi said.
"I know." Adam agreed.
Davey showed up a few minutes later.
"Are you ready?" Hunter asked.
Davey nodded. We walked out of the church and started walking home. It was pretty silent until Adam said, "She's in a better place, Davey."
"I guess so." Davey agreed.
"Have they found out who did it yet?" Hunter asked.
"Nope. I don't think they ever will." Davey said.
I didn't say anything.
"You're awfully quiet, Jade." Jodi said.
"I know. I don't feel like talking." I said.
"I don't feel like doing anything." Davey said.
"Well, we don't have to do anything." Adam said.
Davey's POV
We reached my house. I said bye to the guys and went inside. I found a note from mom on the table saying that she had gone to the store. I went up to my room, changed my clothes and opened up one of Janie's journals. I started with the most recent journal, reading until her last entry:
I slept over with the guys at Davey's house last night, watching horror movies until I fell asleep. Then we went down to the creek so Jade and I could catch turtles. I named mine Misery. I finished my vampire story the other day. I don't know when I will let people read them. No one knows about them. The guys are gonna be playing at 17 tonight. I know that I will die today. I don't know when, I don't know how. I just had a vision saying that I would die today. When I die, I want mom to know that I love her. I want to know that if I die, the guys won't be too miserable. I want to know that I will get to Heaven. I want to know that everyone will live their life as if I was still alive. I know that Davey will take my death hard and I don't want him to. I have told mom that I want him to have my journals and stories. I'd rather Davey have them then being in a landfill or boxed away in the attic. That way he'd have something to remember me by. I wish I could tell everyone goodbye. I want to tell Davey that I will be ok, that I will be in a better place. I want the guys to continue with the band and hope that they will make it big one day, even if I don't live to see it. I hope my mom won't take my death too hard. I'm hoping I will live, but I can't change fate. Janie
I finished reading the entry and closed Janie's journal. She had predicted her death. But she didn't know that she was going to be shot. I wished that she was still alive. I decided to read her stories. She wrote a lot of fantasy stories, most of them involving vampires and death. I smiled. Janie had always been fascinated by vampires. Her stories were really dark. I finished reading them and lay down on my bed. Jade came in.
"How are you holding up?" he asked.
"She predicted her death." I said quietly.
"What?" Jade queried.
"Janie's mom gave me her stories and her journals. In her last entry, she said that she had a vision that she would die that day. Her last entry was written on the day she died." I explained.
Jade sat down on the floor next to my closet.
"Why didn't she tell us?" he wondered.
"She didn't want us to worry. She knew that I would go insane when she died, and she was right." I answered.
"We could never fool Janie on anything." Jade smiled.
"She said that she wants us to keep playing and make it big someday." I said.
"I hope we do." Jade said, "I didn't know she wrote stories."
"I didn't either." I admitted.
"Did you read any of the yet?" Jade asked me.
I nodded and said, "Most of them are about vampires."
"No surprise there." Jade said.
"She wrote a lot of dark stuff. One was about a vampire killing another vampire for killing her daughter. It was really gory." I said.
"I thought she just wrote that one story for English." Jade said.
"I did too." I said.
"Well, I'm glad that you're holding up ok." Jade said.
"I'll miss her. You know I will miss her." I said miserably.
"Janie was your girl, of course you're gonna be miserable. It's only natural." Jade told me.
"I know. I just wish she was still alive." I said.
"She is, in a way." Jade said.
"What do you mean?" I queried.
"Well, she's not alive physically, but her memory is." Jade said.
"I never thought of it that way." I said.
"It'll be ok, Davey." Jade told me.
"I know." I said.
"I'm gonna head home. See you later." Jade said.
"See ya." I said.
Jade left. I lay down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I was thinking about death. Why did we have to die? Why can't we just live forever? Death brings so much pain. I always thought that Janie and I would get married and have a family. I never figured that she would die before we graduate. I sighed and took out Misery and Hades and let them crawl around the floor. I turned on by lava lamp and watched the bubbles float to the top. I stared at it for a while, watching the bubbles going up and down. Misery and Hades seemed to be racing each other to my closet. I decided to get them before they smashed into the wall. I didn't think that I would ever get over Janie's death. She had been such a big part of my life, and now she was gone. Gone forever. I could almost hear her yelling at Hunter again. Man, those were good days. Janie and Hunter would always get in a fight over something and not talk to each other fore the rest of the day. I sighed. Those days should have lasted forever. Instead, they ended with a death.